UPF Barcelona School of Management (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) vs IE University (IE Business School): which trading school is better?
As of October 30, 2026, UPF Barcelona School of Management (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) leads IE University (IE Business School) by 1.3 point in the 2027 trading school ranking: #105 internationally against #134. The gap comes mainly from the Recognition and employability and Trust pillars. IE University (IE Business School) does better on Student reviews and Visibility. On Teaching, they are level.
2027 edition · updated October 30, 2026 · next updates planned for December 2026 and January 2027 · Ranking methodology
All 25 criteria, side by side
| Criterion | UPF Barcelona School of Management (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) | IE University (IE Business School) |
|---|---|---|
| Score out of 100 | 74.8 | 73.5 |
| International rank | #105 | #134 |
| Rank in Spain | #3 of 62 | #5 of 62 |
| Trust · 10 % | 4.70/5 | 4.08/5 |
| 1. Regulator warningsscale | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 2. Registered company and agescale | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 3. Transparency: price, refunds, legal notice, contactscale | 5/5 | 3/5 |
| 4. Named, verifiable instructorsscale | 4/5 | 1/5 |
| 5. Honest marketing, no promise of profitscale | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| 6. Secure websitescale | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 7. Protected domain (SPF, DMARC, headers)scale | 3/5 | 4/5 |
| Teaching · 20 % | 3.00/5 | 3.00/5 |
| 8. Curriculum coveragescale | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| 9. Real practicescale | 2/5 | 3/5 |
| 10. Mentoring and supportscale | 1/5 | 1/5 |
| 11. Cost per training hourscale | n/a | 1/5 |
| Student reviews · 20 % | 3.00/5 | 4.50/5 |
| 13. Student rating (Trustpilot and Google)scale | 3/5 | 4/5 |
| 14. Number of reviewsscale | 3/5 | 5/5 |
| 15. Suspicious review warningscale | n/a | n/a |
| 16. 12-month trendscale | n/a | n/a |
| Recognition and employability · 30 % | 4.57/5 | 2.89/5 |
| 12. Degree-granting programscale | 5/5 | 1/5 |
| 18. Degree recognized by a state or the professionscale | 5/5 | 2/5 |
| 25. Employability and career outcomesscale | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| 17. Institutional accreditationscale | 4/5 | 5/5 |
| 19. Labels and awardsscale | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| 20. Official partnersscale | 3/5 | 1/5 |
| Visibility · 20 % | 3.50/5 | 4.50/5 |
| 21. Domain agescale | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 22. Websites linking to itscale | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 23. Press mentions, Wikipedia pagescale | 1/5 | 5/5 |
| 24. Social media audiencescale | 3/5 | 3/5 |
In green, the better of the two scores. “n/a”: not applicable, the criterion is left out of its pillar. “–”: criterion not yet assessed. The evidence and source for each score are on each school's listing.
UPF Barcelona School of Management (Universitat Pompeu Fabra): full listingIE University (IE Business School): full listing